The cost of hypermiling

[Lazarus]

Sometimes it not about the money. 10 minutes and 41 seconds a day. Good grief. What if you significant other has a problem or the waitress at dinner loses your check and you lose 3 minutes how does that work. Or lets just say you are walking down the street and see some birds doing a dance you want to see. Life is to short to figure it out to 10 minutes a day. Your mileage may very. (YMMV)

[Daox]

Well said Lazarus.

[roflwaffle]

Originally Posted by PA32R

The problem is, as detailed at http://hamiltonianfunction.blogspot....5/so-what.html and at http://hamiltonianfunction.blogspot....i-thought.html, the time expenditure of this type of driving this way is huge. It amounts to a week of vacation each year, and the avoided cost of fuel doesn't come near the amount my company pays me for the time lost.

The direct cost savings via fuel for driving slower aren't as attractive, if at all, when the individual in question makes ~10-20+/hour, however given that traffic accidents are the top when it comes down to accidental fatalities, that a vehicle traveling 75mph compared to 55mph needs nearly twice as much room to stop, and that a significant amount of traffic is caused by accidents, be them serious or fender benders, I wonder if on average, having people drive safely/slowly would really cost more in terms of time/money than what occurs daily on CA freeways.

For instance, the average driver supposedly spends an extra one to three days per year in traffic, most of which is allegedly caused by accidents. For every hour they spend in that traffic, they pay an extra ~$3 due to fuel cost increase. Course, this doesn't include the cost of accidents, so... Whether or not it still makes sense still depends on how much ya make. But for the average American at ~$10/hour it may be a losing proposition, especially for those in areas w/ lots of congestion.

[PA32R]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

Sometimes it not about the money. 10 minutes and 41 seconds a day. Good grief. What if you significant other has a problem or the waitress at dinner loses your check and you lose 3 minutes how does that work. Or lets just say you are walking down the street and see some birds doing a dance you want to see. Life is to short to figure it out to 10 minutes a day. Your mileage may very. (YMMV)

All of the above is true, and I do continue to drive at about 54 m.p.h. The point is that there are costs associated with it. Putting it monetary terms brings it into perspective. It really is 40 hours per year since it's not 10 minutes and 41 seconds every now and again but rather every work day. So, those forty hours could be spent with my significant other, or watching birds, or milling parts for a steam engine, or working on a proof for the Riemann hypothesis, or......

[i_am_socket]

I don't get paid for my commute, so it doesn't cost me anything to spend an additional few minutes a day getting there and back. I spend far more time sitting in traffic idling my gas away from accidents/congestion than I do by driving slower.

Today for example: storms yesterday left wet/flooded roads so there was a rash of accidents on and closed auxiliary roads from the highway I take as well as a pro-golf tournament at the intersection of the 2 highways I take. Distance: 23 miles. Time: 1 hour 30 minutes. How much money did I "lose" today? I lost my lunch break to make up for the extra hour it took to get to work. I had an accident last year in stop and go traffic that cost me a week's car rental.

Traffic will always literally cost me more directly than driving slower on open roads ever could in an ancillary way. At least I'm saving money for the next accident waiting to happen.

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted by PA32R

All of the above is true, and I do continue to drive at about 54 m.p.h. The point is that there are costs associated with it. Putting it monetary terms brings it into perspective. It really is 40 hours per year since it's not 10 minutes and 41 seconds every now and again but rather every work day. So, those forty hours could be spent with my significant other, or watching birds, or milling parts for a steam engine, or working on a proof for the Riemann hypothesis, or......

Well, what else do you do every day that wastes 10 minutes? Stop doing that and your back to even! or get up 20 minutes earlier and you get a bonus week of vacation!
I have a 50.5km commute each way that takes about 35-40 minutes driving "normally" (ie trying to go 100km/h, passing people, getting angry, etc...)or about 45-50 minutes striving for efficiency. I find I am much more relaxed when I get to work after hypermiling and it gives me something to do while driving. I chose to live out in the sticks so I might as well make the most of it and I save about $2.00/day which equals a nice shotgun or some other toy.

Also, if you can, pulse and glide to a higher average speed, do 70 to 50mph, you still save gas than driving a steady 60mph bored out of your skull.
Ian

[ebacherville]

I can see hypermiling adding a bit of wear to the car , like a little added wear on the clutch, from added use, and maybe less life of the starter if your shutting down the motor more often.

As for time, the add to my 30 mile commute is minimal and I don't make huge cash so it well worth my added minutes to save on fuel. My time is vary valuable to me and don't have enough but I use drive time to ponder and just take in the nature around me.

[PA32R]

Originally Posted by IndyIan

Well, what else do you do every day that wastes 10 minutes? Stop doing that and your back to even! or get up 20 minutes earlier and you get a bonus week of vacation!
I have a 50.5km commute each way that takes about 35-40 minutes driving "normally" (ie trying to go 100km/h, passing people, getting angry, etc...)or about 45-50 minutes striving for efficiency. I find I am much more relaxed when I get to work after hypermiling and it gives me something to do while driving. I chose to live out in the sticks so I might as well make the most of it and I save about $2.00/day which equals a nice shotgun or some other toy.

Also, if you can, pulse and glide to a higher average speed, do 70 to 50mph, you still save gas than driving a steady 60mph bored out of your skull.
Ian

I don't disagree, obviously, since I continue to drive in that fashion and have for the last two years and eight months. My point is that there's more to the choice than "do I want to save gas or do I want to drive fast." Many web sites dedicated to saving fuel will say "the time lost is negligible." I'm just opining that it isn't necessarily negligible and that we (those of us who drive slowly to save fuel) are making a multi-dimensional choice. I'm not complaining, I've put my time where my mouth is.

By the way, since time=money and knowledge=power, knowing that power=work/time and substituting, knowledge=work/money. Solving for money, we see that money=work/knowledge. Therefore, money increases without limit as knowledge goes to zero.

In case you were all wondering...

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by PA32R

All of the above is true, and I do continue to drive at about 54 m.p.h. The point is that there are costs associated with it. Putting it monetary terms brings it into perspective. It really is 40 hours per year since it's not 10 minutes and 41 seconds every now and again but rather every work day. So, those forty hours could be spent with my significant other, or watching birds, or milling parts for a steam engine, or working on a proof for the Riemann hypothesis, or......

Monetary value doesn't put much perspective on it, for me at least. Summing them up just makes it seem as if it were more usable time.... If you're milling parts for a steam engine... How well does that work when the available time is incredibly small? I mean, when I'm tinkering, I take a couple+ hours (I enjoy it)... I personally couldn't break that up into 10 minute chunklets - the creative juices don't flow that way

Watching birds and spending time with loved ones - sure... But what's the cost if it's more stressful? I personally am not fun to hang around when I come home stressed out - my other half isn't going to appreciate a sixth of an hour more time for someone that's not happy

Quality over quantity

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted by PA32R

I don't disagree, obviously, since I continue to drive in that fashion and have for the last two years and eight months. My point is that there's more to the choice than "do I want to save gas or do I want to drive fast." Many web sites dedicated to saving fuel will say "the time lost is negligible." I'm just opining that it isn't necessarily negligible and that we (those of us who drive slowly to save fuel) are making a multi-dimensional choice. I'm not complaining, I've put my time where my mouth is.

By the way, since time=money and knowledge=power, knowing that power=work/time and substituting, knowledge=work/money. Solving for money, we see that money=work/knowledge. Therefore, money increases without limit as knowledge goes to zero.

In case you were all wondering...

I am impressed that you have been driving that way for so long, it takes dedication for sure.
I have to disagree with your equation though, as I am not anywhere near a millionaire...
I guess since you are driving an air plow (my SUV is as well) maybe the highspeed pulse and glide won't work well but give it a shot, it will keep you occupied for the rest of the week anyways!
I got 6.5L/100km doing this, this morning doing my 50.5km in 42 minutes with the Peon. Maybe tomorrow I'll try just going for 80km/h all the way and see what the difference is.